Ralph Sievert

Over the next eight years, Minneapolis will remove 40,000 ash trees from parks and boulevards, part of a $9-million initiative that began in January to eliminate the emerald ash borer. The beetle has killed millions of trees in the U.S., and has invaded neighborhoods across the Twin Cities. Ralph Sievert, director of forestry for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, says the idea is to phase them out over a period of time.

Blocking half the access to a south Minneapolis street is a sprawling stump from what had been a giant elm tree. Its ring pattern indicates the tree is more than a century old, but it was yanked from the ground much like a garden weed. The sprawling stump sits as a sad reminder of the vicious wind storm that raced across the Twin Cities metropolitan area the weekend of June 22.